Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Mona Eltahawy, we ask sincerely and with all due respect, that you publicly and categorically respond to those communities which you claim to represent or belong to and respond to the following:

(a) Make a clear and categorical statement in which you explicitly outline and detail your position on the Palestinian-led global BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) movement. As a public personality (and activist), your reluctance to state a position one way or the other is irresponsible and politically problematic, leaving us with no choice but to judge based on your behavior. We have a right and a necessity to know categorically whether or not you support the BDS call and movement.

Please state whether or not you support this movement, and explain your normalization with the State of Israel in relation to the broad-based and grassroots call by the majority of Palestinians for a boycott - by all conscientious individuals and institutions - of all Zionist Israeli institutions, public or private, that are responsible for and complicit in the ongoing occupation and siege of Palestine.

(b) Retract your statement in which you allege that the 25th January uprising had nothing to do with Israel and the US. Acknowledge the overwhelmingly visible presence of solidarity with Palestinians and anti-Israel banners and signs, as well as those in resistance and opposition to US-led imperial control, alliance with Mubarak and exploitation of the region. Apologize publicly for the irresponsible actof making such a misleading, inaccurate and unauthorized statement.

The evening's 65 guests include prominent Muslims and Jews, such as Akbar Ahmed, chair of Islamic Studies at American University; Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding and the founding rabbi of the Hampton Synagogue in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., and the New York Synagogue in Manhattan; and Abdullah Antepli, the Muslim chaplain at Duke University.

UPDATE: At 11:04 p.m., the Israeli Embassy released a partial list of guests to the iftar. They included Paul Monteiro, Associate Director, White House Office of Public Engagement; Dennis Ross, National Security Council; Victoria Nuland, Spokesperson, Department of State; Suzan Johnson Cook, Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom; Congressman Eliot Engel of New York; Ghait Al-Omari, American Task Force on Palestine; and Omer Bajwa, Yale University.
Talib Shareef, imam of Masjid Muhammad mosque in Washington, D.C. and president of the Muslim-American Military Association, lead prayers during iftar.

Notably absent from the guest list were representatives of the largest Islamic groups in the U.S., such as the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) and the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). A spokesman for Mohamed Magid, the president of ISNA, said he was invited but had a conflicting event. A spokesman for the national CAIR office said that a representative of the group was not invited. In addition, Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota, a Democrat who is the first Muslim elected to Congress, was invited but was unable to attend because of an injury, according to an embassy official.

So, the list of attendees is not complete, probably some of the housies want to stab the Muslim community in the back in secret

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Mona Eltahawy has been extensively covered on this site (you can search her name here) ... just an interesting update to see what she has been up to lately. As readers of this blog are aware Mona Eltahawy is a supporter of Zionism. More recently with the events in Egypt, she has become a media darling - and she has made wild claims misrepresentating the nature of the events there - specifically around Zionism.

As many will be aware, today #flagman took the zionist flag down from the "embassy" in Cairo ... and replaced it with the Egyptian flag. This event has widely celebrated all over the Arab and Muslim world as an act of creative resistance.

So, here is what Mona Eltahawy "retweeted"

Elazul Elazul
by monaeltahawy
FYI: "Flagman"'s Action is illegal, and means we (Egypt) are liable under international law for Breach. It's also an Act of War. #2Wrongs

Ali Abunimah tweeted in response to a Mona Eltahawy tweet:

OMG @monaeltahawy really worried about "legality" of #flagman's action. Did she ever care about "legality" of Israeli massacres? Shameless!

and here is what Mona Eltahawy, not having any substance to respond to Abunimah's astute observation, tweeted back:

@avinunu What's shameless is your bitchiness. You sound like a shrill diva. Woman up, grow some ovaries and stop trying to pick a fight

For Immediate Release August 13, 2010
Expected Attendees at the White House Iftar Dinner

This evening, the President will continue a White House tradition of hosting an Iftar celebrating Ramadan in the State Dining Room. This is the second Iftar hosted by the President. The Iftar is the meal that breaks the day of fasting, when Muslim families and communities eat together after sunset.

Below is a list of some of the expected attendees at tonight’s White House dinner celebrating Ramadan:

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

The Honorable Andre Carson, United States Representative (Indiana 7th)
The Honorable John Conyers, United States Representative (Michigan 14th)
The Honorable Rush Holt, United States Representative (New Jersey 12th)

Mrs. Shamim Jawad, Spouse, Embassy of Afghanistan
His Excellency Yashar Aliyev, Ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan
His Excellency Akramul Qader, Ambassador of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
His Excellency Roble Olhaye, Ambassador of the Republic of Djibouti
His Excellency Sameh Hassan Shoukry, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt
His Excellency Pietro Sambi, Apostolic Nuncio of the Holy See
Her Excellency Meera Shankar, Ambassador of India
His Excellency Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaida’ie, Ambassador of the Republic of Iraq
His Excellency Erlan A. Idrissov, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan
His Excellency Avni Spahiu, Ambassador of the Republic of Kosovo
His Excellency Ali Suleiman Aujali, Ambassador of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya
His Excellency Aziz Mekour, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Morocco
Her Excellency Hunaina Sultan Ahmed Al Mughairy, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman
His Excellency Ali Bin Fahad Faleh Al-Hajri, Ambassador of the State of Qatar
His Excellency Adel A.M. Al-Jubeir, Ambassador of Saudi Arabia
His Excellency Husain Haqqani, Ambassador of Pakistan
His Excellency Sergey Ivanovich Kislyak, Ambassador of the Russian Federation
His Excellency Habib Mansour, Ambassador of Tunisia
His Excellency Ilhomjon Tuychievich Nematov, Ambassador of the Republic of Uzbekistan
His Excellency Abdulwahab A. Al Hajjri, Ambassador of the Republic Yemen
His Excellency Ufuk Gokcen, Ambassador and Permanent Observer, Organization of the Islamic Conference
The Honorable Deitan Mish, Chargé d'Affaires at Interim of the Republic Albania
The Honorable Ali Alaoui, Chargé d'Affaires at Interim of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria
The Honorable Tesfaye Yilma Sabo, Chargé d'Affaires at Interim of Ethiopia
The Honorable Salman Al Farisi, Chargé d'Affaires at Interim of the Republic of Indonesia
The Honorable Walid Rahman J. Al Hadid, Chargé d'Affaires at Interim of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
The Honorable Noraini Hamid, Chargé d'Affaires at Interim of Malaysia
The Honorable Bello Ringim, Economic Minister, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
The Honorable Suleyman Gokce, Chargé d'Affaires at Interim of the Republic of Turkey
The Honorable Dominick Chilcott, British Chargé d'Affaires at Interim